Women across the world are talking about their abortions on social media. And it’s not to show off.
It all started when a hidden camera video of a meeting with representatives from Planned Parenthood (it's like the Family Planning Association, just American) went viral. Put together and edited by the Center for Medical Progress (who actually want progress to go backwards and for abortion to be made illegal), it is made out to show that Planned Parenthood is a front for the baby body parts trade.
Foetal tissue – taken from aborted foetuses, with the once-pregnant woman’s consent, has been given to researchers – who’re looking into curing all sorts of diseases – for decades. Any money for these tissues doesn’t go to Planned Parenthood but towards the safe packaging and transportation of the tissues.
But the video has caused such a pang in the hearts of those who don’t want women to be able to have a say over their own bodies, that, state by state, Planned Parenthood has been losing its funding. And now, Republicans have managed to use their power to halt Planned Parenthood’s funding for a year while the claims made in the video are investigated.
Though Obama says that he will veto the bill should it ever reach his office, other Democrats have said that the bill (and another which seeks to punish doctors for not helping foetuses that survive abortions, even though such a law already exists) ‘ is to intimidate abortion providers out of practice’.
And in response to the news, women are now talking about their abortions using the hashtag #ShoutYourAbortion. The hashtag – coined by journalist Lindy West - is designed to get women to break the stigma around discussion of abortions and talk about what getting a termination meant to them, how the pregnancy, if brought to full term, could’ve damaged their lives, and what they’ve achieved thanks to the abortion they’ve had.
Unfortunately, the hashtag is also full of people who want to tweet photos of alleged ‘babies’ and call people who support women’s rights to have a say over their bodies ‘murderers’ and ‘babykillers’.
But it’s also full of people making important points about abortion and access to it:
And also it’s worth remembering this:
Planned Parenthood offers abortion, sure. But that’s as a last resort – they also offer advice, counseling and free contraception. If they’re defunded by the state, they’ll have to rely on donations…and if they can't get donations? Well, women are going to have to turn to other measures to keep what happens to their own bodies under control. And all this opposition to women's rights could just be the tip of the iceberg - two Republican presidential candidates think abortion should be banned, even in cases of incest and rape.
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Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.